Border collies are frequently thought of as just being black and white, however this is actually far from the truth. Border Collies come in a multitude of different colours and whilst black and white represents the most commonly seen colour combination, a black and white border collie can carry the genetic ingredients for a variety of colours. So just because you may have a black and white Border collie, this does not mean that they will produce just black and white puppies.

It’s worth noting that for the serious Border collie breeder the colour of the breed is of little importance. They are more concerned with breeding to obtain the correct temperament, right character and good health than they are the colour of the animal.

Any living animal and even humans for that matter inherit many characteristics from their parents. These inherited characteristics are controlled by genes.

Offspring inherit genes from both their father and their mother in equal measure. For each genetically controlled characteristic a dog will carry two genes, one passed down from their father and one passed down from their mother. Likewise the father and mother will each carry two genes for each genetic characteristic inherited from their own parents. Although dogs carry two genes for each inherited characteristic, only one gene for each characteristic is passed on from their father and only one gene is passed on from their mother, this is how we get diversity.